Flexible power-transmitting mechanism.



PATENTED SEPT. 1, 1908.

R. I. FANGHER. FLEXIBLE POWER TRANSMITTING MEGHAN ISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 23, 1906.

/4 f m Z7 ROSMAN I. FANGHER, OF BALDWINSVILLE, NEW YORK.

FLEXIBLE POWER-TRANSMITTING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1, 1908.

Application filed March 23, 1906. Serial No. 307,629.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RosMAN I. FANCI-IER, of Baldwinsville, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Im )rovements in Flexible Power- Transmitting Mechanism, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in flexible power transmittin mechanism comprising essentially a flexib e shaft rotatingly mounted within and extending through a flexible metal casin which is sheathed throughout its entire length in a pliable jacket of comparatively heavy eather, or equivalent material. In this class of devices, one endof the flexible shaft is connected to a suitable driving element, while the other end is connected to a tool holder or other driven element which it may be desired to shift. from place to place within the range or swee of the working end of the shaft. It, there ore becomes necessary to rigidly connect the terminal ends of the flexible shaft to the driving and driven elements, and this is usually done by brazin said terminal ends to certain rigid parts 0 the driving and driven mechanisms, but it is found that after a longer or shorter period of use, according to the strains to which the shaft is subjected, they almost invariably break at or near their brazed 'unctions with the adjacent parts of said mechanisms, which makes it necessary to not only replacethe shaft, but also the terminal connections by which the shaft is attached to the driving and driven mechanisms.

The flexible shaft usually consists of a tempered coiled s ring, and when brazed in the manner just escribed, the temper is, of course, destroyed, and renders the terminal ends of the shaft more susceptible to breakage. The helices at the extreme ends of these coil-spring flexible shafts are rigidly secured to each other by brazing or equivalent securing means to prevent uncoiling, and the heat which is necessarily applied in the process of brazing anneals to a greater or less .degree the spring or destroys the life of the wire forming the coil, and heretofore these extreme ends which have been previously weakened by brazing have been rigidly fastened to the driving and driven elements so that the points of attachment have always been at the weakest point of the shaft causing frequent breaking at these points. My object, therefore, is to clamp the ends of the shaft to their respective heads beyond the. points which are weakened by heating in the operation of brazing so that the strain of the connection between the shaft and head is applied to the stronger portions of the shaft which have not been affected by the heat.

'()ne of the Brincipal objects of my inven- 6 tion is to frictlonally lock the terminal ends of the flexible shaft to the adjacent parts of the driving and driven mechanisms so as to avoid the disadvantages of brazing, thereby reducing the liability of breakage, and at the same time affording means for readily removing the broken parts and replacing them with new ones, or permitting the re-insertion of the end of the broken shaft into the adjacent connection after the broken terminal has been removed therefrom.

A further object of this detachability of the heads is to permit the shaft to be readily withdrawn from its casing separately from the heads to be lubricated;

Another important feature of my invention is to frictlonally secure the terminals of the casings and its leather jacket to the nonrotatable supports for the driving and driven elements, thereby avoiding direct contact of 8 the threaded collars and similar clamping devices with the leather, which tends to cause undue abrasion and mutilation of the leather, and after a short period of time allows the jacket to work loose from its attaching-elements.

Other objects and uses will appear in the following description.

In the drawings-Figure l is an elevation of a flexible power transmitting mechanism showing the terminal connections of a flexible shaft with its driving and driven elements. Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged longitu- (linal sectional views, partly in elevation, showing in Fig. 2, the driving mechanisms and connections with the adjacent terminal end of the driving shaft, together with means for securin the adjacent ends of the casing and the jacket against rotation; while in Fig.

3, I have shown the driven mechanism as a 10 non-rotatable overhead supporting frame '-1 for a driving pulley, as 2-,'having a hollow shaft -3 journaled in the frame 1 and provided with a key 4 which interlocks with the flat side of one end of a rigid driving shaft section 5-.

The non-rotatable frame 1- may be secured to any suitable su )port, in such position as to enable the ull ey -2- to be connected to any availaiile power transmitting mechanism, not necessary to herein illustrate or describe, and in this instance it is provided with a depending flange or boss 6, upon which is clamped a s lit sleeve consisting of. opposite similar haf sections 7 which are each formed with a laterally flaring lower end -8 and are clamped together upon the boss -6 by clamping bolts 9.

The shaft-section 5 extends downwardly within and between the sleeve-sections 7 and is formed with an enlarged lower end or head 10 haying a smoothbore socket -1l and a series of, in this instance three, elongated radial slots 12- spaced equidistant apart and extending through its sides for receiving a correspondible shaft 14 to frictionally lock said flexible shaft to its driving section 5. The smaller ends of the tapering jaws 13 are within the periphery of the head lO- while the larger ends protrude some slight distance beyond said periphery, and by screwing the collar 15 in one direction, it ismoved across the slots 12 and simultaneously enga es and compresses the jaws 13 against t e periphery of the flexible shaft 14, and by rotating the collar in the opposite direction, it is moved upward to uncover the slots 12- and relieve the ressure of the jaws l3 upon the flexible s iaft, whereu )on the latter may be readily withdrawn from the socket 11.

The flexible shaft 14 is inclosed in a flexible metal casing 16, which in turn, is sheathed in a suitable jacket 17 of leather or equivalent material, said casing and jacket being substantially co-extensive with the length of the shaft 14 exce t that the terminal ends of the shaft project s ightly beyond the ends of the casing and jacket for connection with the adjacent parts of the driving and driven mechanisms. The opposite or working end of the flexible shaft 14- is seated in a similar socket -18 in a ro- .20 upon the lower end of which is screwed a suitable tool holding-chuck 2 1-.

The head 19 of the driven shaft sec-- tion 20 is threaded exteriorly and provided with a series of, inthis instance three, radial slots 22, for receiving a corresponding number of wedge-shaped jaws 23, said threaded head being engaged by a threaded collar -24- operating upon the jaws 23 to compress them into frictional engagement with the adjacent terminal end of the flexible shaft 14.

The head 19, jaws 23- and collar -.Z4 are similar to the parts --1()', 13-- and 15 for securing the upper end of the shaft to the driving mechanism, and it is now clear that both ends of the flexible shaft are frictionally locked respectively to the driving shaft section 5 and driven shaft section 2(), and may be readily detached by simply unscrewing the collars 15 and 24 to release the pressure of the jaws 13 and -..3*- upon the periphery of the flexible shaft. These aws fit closelywithin their respective slots and are, therefore, held against clrcumferential or endwise movement, but may be readily removed-radially by unscrewing the collars 12 and ,24 to uncover their respective slots. terlocking of the terminal ends of the flexible shaft to their respective driving and driven shaft sections 5 and 2(), I avoid the expense and disadvanta es of brazing and at the same time the flexib e shaft may besupplied without extra fittings and quickly connected to the driving and driven shaft sections by simply inserting their terminal ends in their respective sockets and screwing the collars 12 and -24 against the wedgeshape jaws 13 and- '23-.

The upper terminal end of the shaft casing 1 6 and its jacket -17 is frietionally clamped and hel between the sleeve sections 7 by suita 1e clam ing bolts -28 which are located some istance'above the lower flaring ends '8 to allow for a limited,

flexing action of this end of the casing 16- and its jacket .17 togetherwith the .inclosed rotating shaft 14. The lower terminal end of the casing 16 and its jacket 17- is inserted invone end of a sleeve or ferrule 29- having a series of, in this instance three, radial slots '30, for receivin tapering jaws 31 which are compresse against t ie periphery of the leather jacket 17 by means of a threaded collar -32 engaging the adjacent threaded end of the sleeve or ferrule 29. The op osite end of this ferrule is threaded interior y and receives a reduced threaded end of a non-rotatable handle or cylindrical bearing 34 for the driven shaft section --20.

Theslots 30- are of substantially the same dimensions as the outer dimensions of By this frictional ini the 'aws 31, and therefore, these jaws are eld against circumferential or endwise movement by the walls of the slots 30, but are removable radially through said slots when the collar 32 1S unscrewed to relieve the ressure of the jaws upon the leather jac et. The inner faces of all of thesegrip ing jaws are preferably smooth, and there )y prevent abrasion of the parts with which they come in contact, which is particularly important in the connections between the leather jacket and sleeve or ferrule 29 because it enables the lower terminal end of the non-rotatable casing and its leather jacket 17 to be readily attached to or detached from the sleeve or hearing section for the driven shaft 20.

The collar .32 is connected by lengthwise spring arms 35 to a ring 36' which has a greater interior diameter than the outer diameter of the leather jacket 17 to allow limited flexing action of the shaft and its inclosing casing and jacket, and at the same time serves to prevent short .hends or kinks at the junction of the flexible connections wjth the rigid non-rotatable casing for the driven elements.

, t will be observed that the upper end of the jacket ,17 and its inclosmg casing 16 are frictionally clamped and held against rotation between the sleeve sections 7 which, in turn, are frictionally clamped to the hub 6 of the non-rotatable frame --1.

It now appears that the essential features of my invention are, first, frictionally clamping t ie terminal ends of the flexible shaft to the driving and driven elements respectively,

and second, frictionally clamping the terminal ends of the casing and jacket sections to the non-rotating supports for the driving and} driven elements.

What I claim is: j

1. In a flexible power transmitting mechanism, a rotary head having radial slots and a socket extending inwardly from one end beyond the slots, wedge-shape jaws movable radiallyinsaid slots, a flexible shaft having the helices at one end secured together and inserted into said socketbeyond the jaws, a non-rotatable casing of closely coiled wiresinclosing the intermediate portion of the shaft,

a leather jacket surrounding the casing, a

non-rotatable sleeve loosely inclosing the aforesaid head and adjacent end of the jacket, and movable means for rigidly clampmg the sleeve to said jacket.

2. In a flexible power transmitting mechanism, a revoluble spindle having a socket in one end, a coil-wire shaft having its helices at one end brazed together and inserted in said socket, aws in the spindle engaging the shaft some distance from the brazed helices, means for operating said jaws, a non-rotatable coilwire casing for said shaft, a leather jacket for the casing, and non-rotatable holding means clamped to one end of the jacket.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 19th day of March 1906.

ROSMAN I. FANCHER,

Witnesses:

H. E. CHASE, HOWARD P. Dawson. 

